OeAD and USC Shoah Foundation expand collaboration on Holocaust Education

Digital education initiatives and IWalks for more in-depth history teaching

The Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California (USC), founded by Steven Spielberg in 1994, has the world's largest collection of videotaped eyewitness interviews with survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides in its Visual History Archive. Already since 2017 the OeAD has, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF), been an official partner for Austria with the programme ERINNERN:AT. This cooperation was renewed and expanded on 9 October 2023 within the framework of a formal signing of the contract by the managing director of Austria’s Education and Internationalisation Agency OeAD, Jakob Calice, in the presence of the federal minister Martin Polaschek.
"Education is an important key to preventing antisemitism and to promoting a critical awareness of history. In the spirit of an active culture of remembrance and practised awareness of democracy it is a great concern of mine to provide young people, especially schoolchildren, with comprehensive history education about the Holocaust and other genocides. The intensification of our cooperation with the USC Shoah Foundation is of utmost importance in this regard," emphasises Martin Polaschek, federal minister for education, science and research.
With its programme ERINNERN:AT the OeAD deals, on behalf of the BMBWF, with teaching and learning about National Socialism, the Holocaust and the prevention of antisemitism through education. In an international cooperation with the Teacher Training College Lucerne (CH) and the University of Flensburg (D) the programme is responsible for the editing and content development of the German-language landing page of IWitness "LEBENSGESCHICHTEN" (i.e. “Life Stories”). On this page the USC Shoah Foundation makes about 3,000 of the more than 55,000 interviews available to the public and provides teaching units ("activities") for teachers. The most recent "activity" developed in the German-speaking countries context is dedicated for the first time in the history of IWitness to those persecuted as homosexuals during the Nazi era.
"As the first generation of survivors of the Nazi regime grows older and eventually passes away the question arises more and more of what will happen to witnessing. Digital education programmes such as the USC Shoah Foundation's IWitness programme are an important response to the question of how to introduce pupils emotionally and empathetically to the history of the Holocaust in the future and how to engage them in learning about Nazi crimes. Therefore the cooperation with the Shoah Foundation is of great importance for the OeAD," says Jakob Calice.
Patrick Siegele, head of “Holocaust Education” at the OeAD, adds: "Pupils not only come into contact with survivors and witnesses of national socialism and the holocaust through the teaching units developed by ERINNERN:AT but they also gain historical skills, media skills and empathy. These are key skills for a critical awareness of history, which are indispensable in times of Holocaust denial and Holocaust distortion."
Under the education minister Martin Polaschek the BMBWF has already started numerous new initiatives in the field of remembrance. These include, among others, an increase of school visits to sites of remembrance, such as the Mauthausen concentration camp. "Never forget. Under this motto we are creating awareness among young people for the darkest chapter of our history. I will continue to unite all forces in education, science and research to promote this awareness-raising among the next generation."
With the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the OeAD and the USC existing cooperation projects will be consolidated and new projects will be created. This includes, for example, that the OeAD now officially develops IWalks for the USC Shoah Foundation. These are site-specific, digital and interactive tours that are combined with eyewitness accounts and other primary sources such as maps or photographs. Moreover, a concept is to be developed together with the USC on how the use of the materials in class could be scientifically evaluated in the future. Switzerland already has a comparable project.
Robert J. Williams, Finci-Viterbi Executive Director and Chair of the USC Shoah Foundation, expressed his ongoing support for the OeAD partnership: “This vital collaboration is essential, especially considering the alarming increase in extremism, antisemitism, and Holocaust distortion around the world. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we cooperate to help people learn history and think critically and deeply about the attitudes, beliefs, and actions that ultimately led to the Holocaust. These conversations might be difficult at times but we cannot shy away from them.”
Since 1 September 2023 the OeAD has, on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF), also been funding schools to take part in guided excursions to learn about the history of the concentration camps and now concentration camp memorials Mauthausen and Gusen and their subcamps Ebensee and Melk. Materials are available to prepare these visits and for follow-up.
https://oead.at/de/schule/gedenkstaettenbesuch-mauthausen
IWalk Mauthausen: https://www.erinnern.at/themen/artikel/neues-digitales-bildungsangebot-virtueller-rundgang-iwalk-mauthausen
IWitness –“LEBENSGESCHICHTEN”: https://iwitness.usc.edu/sites/lebensgeschichten
Enquiries and Contact:
OeAD – Agency for Education and InternationalisationMag. Ursula HilmarSpokesperson+43 1 53408-270presse@oead.atwww.oead.at